Jayde and I were sitting on her bed at about 10:30 P.M. on the night before Halloween, which was a Friday. October 31 was THE best day of the year for me and Jayde; and we planned on staying together for the whole weekend. "Dane, what should we do tonight? I don't just wanna lay here… though it feels great being with you," Jayde stated.

"I don't know. What do you wanna do, baby? It's your choice" I replied, gently kissing her lips. On this date, 17 years ago, Jayde was born. I was with her celebrating her birthday because she said I was the only person she wanted to see on her special day. We had spent every Halloween together since we had been about 5 years old. Jayde had been my best friend since birth nearly. She was born the EXACT day after me. We were even born at the same precise time of day (4:23 A.M.). It was just one more factor that made me think we were perfect together.

Our parents told us we had met on Halloween morning at 4:23. They said the story was we both crawled out of our cribs and to the window of our living rooms. Our houses were right beside each other, and we saw each other in the window. We thought this was really odd, but we believed it.

"Hey! I know what we should do!" JayJay exclaimed. "We should go for a walk to the cemetery and sit at the top at midnight and stay there and see if anything happens at 4:23!"

"Sounds like a good idea, babe. We will head at out midnight," I agreed. "You're just full of great ideas, aren't you JayJay?"

"Why don't you tell me?" Jayde replied, climbing in my lap. She pressed her forehead up against mine and whispered, "Now let's hear some of your ideas…"

Midnight quickly came, making Jayde and I equally excited. We each grabbed a sweatshirt and headed out the door. Jayde's parents were out of town for the weekend with my parents. I was shocked they let us stay at Jayde's house alone, but they trusted us and knew we wouldn't do anything stupid.

So as we walked down the road, we crossed the path of many other teens hanging out. We came across cats, raccoons, deer, bats, and dogs. We walked hand-in-hand 3 miles to the cemetery.

About 5 minutes down the road, we came across a bag tied around a metal fence post. It looked like there was something inside, and as we got closer we noticed the outside said, "Don't go to the cemetery." Jayde nearly screamed, so I squeezed her hand and muttered, "Don't worry about it, babe, I'm right here to protect you. It's probably just some stupid kids trying to scare little kids on Halloween." Jayde seemed to calm down after that.

Quickly, she became frightened again. We were a few meters past that last encounter when we found another paper bag tied to a fence. This time, however, there was certainly something inside. It was wide open. There was a rock lying in it, a big rock. I picked it up and turned it around, examining it. On the flattest side there was the face of a skeleton. Under its face, it said, "You must turn around."

Jayde then questioned, "Should we go home, Dane? I'm scared…" I had to play tough; even though I was pretty scared, I had to be strong for my baby.

"It's okay, Jayde, I'm right here… but if you want to go home, we can. Just know I'm here if you want to continue on our journey." She decided she wanted to keep going, so that is what we did.

We continued walking and walking, and about 15 minutes later we came across yet another bag along the fence. I told Jayde not to look this time, so I covered her eyes with her hat. There was a note inside. It was a bit longer this time. It said, "Dane, you must not have seen the first 2 signs… this is your third and last warning. Don't go to the cemetery. It's a very bad idea… and I know where you live."

Jayde asked what was in the bag as we continued walking, and I just told her not to worry about it. This was our night. We were going to have a good night. With all these stops and contemplations, it was already 3:15 A.M. We had a little over an hour before it was our time.

"I gotcha, baby. You're safe with me. Promise," I assured. I pulled her in close, laying my arm across her shoulders; my other hand was in hers, and her head upon my shoulder. One of her arms was around my waist, being sure I was right there tight against her. I could feel her body heat meeting mine. Having her so close was the best feeling in the world. Nothing could compare.

As we got situated, we began our trek to the top of the cemetery hill. We moved in sync. I told her if she wanted to stop we could stop somewhere. It was a fairly tall hill. It took us nearly 15 minutes to reach the top of the hill. By this time, it was about 4:08 A.M. We arrived at the top and sat, leaning up against the only tree in the entire cemetery.

We sat there and cuddled until 4:22. Jayde whispered in my ear, "One more minute, Dane…" I grabbed her and put her on my lap. I told her everything would be okay, and we would be safe.

As soon as 4:23 rolled around, the wind stopped. The bells at the church started ringing. An ambulance siren could be heard from far across town. I looked at Jayde, who was now standing up. Neither of us said a word, and I stood up. There was suddenly no noise or movement. Time seemed to be frozen. The wind was still not blowing, the leaves were not crunching. The siren and tolls of the bell had both stopped. I felt a hand on my shoulder, which was strange considering Jayde was in front of me. Then a burst of wind blew in my ear and stopped.

I grabbed Jayde in my arms and ran. I ran the whole 3 miles back to her house. I laid her down on her bed. "Baby, I'm sorry we didn't leave sooner… I should have taken you home when we found the first sign…"